Mother of Iowa girl doesn’t want details on death

EVANSDALE (AP) — The mother of one of two Iowa cousins who disappeared last summer and whose bodies were recently found said she doesn’t want to know how her daughter was killed.

Heather Collins told Waterloo television station KWWL that she doesn’t need to know what anyone did to her daughter, Elizabeth Collins, because it’s in God’s hands.

“I don’t need to know how she was murdered,” she said. “I don’t need to know what anybody has done to her, because that’s in God’s hands. All I know is that I don’t have my daughter here anymore and she is up in heaven with our savior. That’s all I need to know.”

Authorities confirmed on Monday that two bodies found last week by hunters belonged to Elizabeth and her cousin, Lyric Cook. Their bodies were discovered in a secluded spot in the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area, about 25 miles from where the girls were last seen.

Elizabeth was 8 and Lyric was 10 when they went for a bike ride in July and didn’t return.

Heather Collins said she worries about learning gruesome details as the investigation moves forward.

“The more I know and the more evil I know about it, it would consume me,” she said. “It would consume my mind, and I don’t need that.”

Collins said her husband and their three other children are coping with the death through counseling. She said she copes by praying.

“That’s where I get my peace,” she said. “That’s where I get my strength.”

The station reported Monday that Collins would not talk about what items were found at the scene, the condition of the bodies or where they were found in the park.

“We at least know where she is now,” she said. “She’s in a much better place, even though it’s not the outcome that we wanted. Now, we need to find out who did this.”

Collins said she forgives the person involved in her daughter’s death.

“I have said, from day one, we forgive whoever did this, and we still do,” she said. “Whoever did this, we forgive you. It is not for us to judge you, to judge what you have done to our beautiful daughter and to our niece. It’s in God’s hands, and he will take care of it.”

A service for Elizabeth will be held Thursday at the Heartland Vineyard Church in Cedar Falls, Collins said. Her daughter’s body will be buried later. Elizabeth’s cousin, Lyric, will have services at a later time.